Struggling to make my brother return to the right path

[MooreRobert904]

Hello, my dear friends. I really need some help and I would really appreciate if you could help me. I have a brother and, I do not know how he got to be the way he is now. He listens to rock music and, worst of all, he is an atheist. I usually have arguments with him about this subject and I asked him how could he possibly not believe in Our Lord, Jesus Christ and he explained to me in this way: the foundation of Christianity is the Bible, which, at the same time, it is said to be the Word of God. Besides that, he said that the Bible contains illogical stories such as the Genesis. I was really intrigued by his statement, so I asked him to give me at least one example. And he said that God, on the first day, separated light from dark and created the day and the night, but He created the sun and the moon only on the fourth day and, saying these, he asked how the days passed from the first to the fourth if there was no Sun and Moon to define the nights and the days, so, he says, if Christianity is founded on an illogical book, it is an illogical religion as well.
I said that God can do everything He pleases and He knows best why He does what He does because there is nothing He has not knowledge of, as the book of Genesis 18:14 states. And he laughed at me . He is my brother, I love him and I wish him the best, which is why I want to make him return his face to Our much Beloved God. Any help, please? I would really appreciate it.

Thank you very much, have a nice day and May God watch over you all.

 

[Himmevin]

I think this should be in the Prayer Wall section, but I may be wrong.

He listens to rock music

I don't believe there is anything wrong with rock music. Depending on the artist, no music is bad as it comes from God as well.

And he said that God, on the first day, separated light from dark

It may not be specifically speaking about literal light and darkness as we perceive with our human eyes. It could mean something spiritual.

And he laughed at me

Remember John 15:18.

I faced a similar thing with my atheist/agnostic sister (I don't know what she believes in, or if in anything). But it's not about convincing people to turn to Jesus, but rather spread the Word unto the world as instructed in Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19. God will work on that from there.

Peace

 

[Jesus' Follower]

I see your point of view.

One thing I will say is, don't try and convince someone who really doesn't want to accept any religious premise.

I cannot see a problem with rock music, many Christians like rock music, however if it's full of vulgarity and profanity it's probably best to avoid it.

How much of the Bible has your brother read?

 

[paul1149]

You can't "make" your brother return to God. You may be able to counter some arguments though. Perhaps check out this, from a simple web search on 'genesis creation order earth before sun'.

 

[John 1:1 GodCZU]

Why would you struggle in what is God's domain?

God calls his sheep to him.

 

[MooreRobert904]

I see your point of view.

One thing I will say is, don't try and convince someone who really doesn't want to accept any religious premise.

I cannot see a problem with rock music, many Christians like rock music, however if it's full of vulgarity and profanity it's probably best to avoid it.

How much of the Bible has your brother read?

Well, I'm afraid he did not read it, he says that he "studied" it, but from the subjective point of view of some sites that actually criticise Christianity.

 

[Jesus' Follower]

Well, I'm afraid he did not read it, he says that he "studied" it, but from the subjective point of view of some sites that actually criticise Christianity.

I can see why he is not wanting to rejoin Christ.
These site are more common nowadays and are trying to tear people away from Christianity.
Even if your brother does not want to walk with Christ, God still has a plan for his life.
I hope this gives you some comfort.

 

[MooreRobert904]

Why would you struggle in what is God's domain?

God calls his sheep to him.

Well, the fact is that today he tried to tease me asking me why I stopped trying to take him to the right path to Our much Beloved God and I told him the same thing and he gave me these quotesProverbs 16:4) The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. And (Matthew 15:24) I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What shall I do?

 

[MooreRobert904]

I can see why he is not wanting to rejoin Christ.
These site are more common nowadays and are trying to tear people away from Christianity.
Even if your brother does not want to walk with Christ, God still has a plan for his life.
I hope this gives you some comfort.

Yes, it does. Thank you very much. I will be waiting, then.

 

[Jesus' Follower]

People who don't want to follow Christ also use scripture against us; it's really sad.

 

[Jesus' Follower]

Yes, it does. Thank you very much. I will be waiting, then.

My pleasure @MooreRobert904.

 

[John 1:1 GodCZU]

Well, the fact is that today he tried to tease me asking me why I stopped trying to take him to the right path to Our much Beloved God and I told him the same thing and he gave me these quotesProverbs 16:4) The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. And (Matthew 15:24) I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What shall I do?

All is as God will's it. Love your brother from the heart of the Holy Spirit within you. Fret not God is on the throne.

 

[John 1:1 GodCZU]

Well, the fact is that today he tried to tease me asking me why I stopped trying to take him to the right path to Our much Beloved God and I told him the same thing and he gave me these quotesProverbs 16:4) The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. And (Matthew 15:24) I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What shall I do?

All is as God will's it. Love your brother from the heart of the Holy Spirit within you. Fret not God is on the throne. Even your brother is OK with it from the sounds of the scripture he gave you. Let it be. What can you undo that God has done. What can you think of doing that can outdo God?

 

[John 1:1 GodCZU]

Well, the fact is that today he tried to tease me asking me why I stopped trying to take him to the right path to Our much Beloved God and I told him the same thing and he gave me these quotesProverbs 16:4) The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. And (Matthew 15:24) I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What shall I do?

All is as God will's it. Love your brother from the heart of the Holy Spirit within you. Fret not God is on the throne. Even your brother is OK with it from the sounds of the scripture he gave you. Let it be. What can you undo that God has done. What can you think of doing that can outdo God?

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Well, I'm afraid he did not read it, he says that he "studied" it, but from the subjective point of view of some sites that actually criticise Christianity.

Hi MR904,

...then if that is all that he has actually done, you might suggest to him that that alone does not qualify as a balanced and academic approach to getting to the central "nitty-gritty" of the issues involved. Reading ONLY atheistic websites is pure bias....

On top of that, his reading probably does not deal with the actual underlying philosophical scholarship that supports (or stymies) the critiques he is reading; although you might not know about epistemology yourself, we still have to ask: does he even have at least a modicum of understanding of how epistemology (and all of it's attending sub-issues) plays into the entire evaluation of Christian Faith? PROBABLY NOT!!!

The most important thing, though, on your part, is to keep praying for him and showing Christ to him through your patience and love...

Peace,
2PhiloVoid

 

[RLBeers]

I think "argue" is the operative word here. Sometimes I find myself wondering why people even open the Old Testament when they are young believers. Even the KJV has issues with the language used and that allows a non-believer to pick away at the still wet foundation in the young. For future reference, the term day coveys a passage of time which may or may not be a literal 24 hours. As God is outside of what a physicist would define as time, a day could just as easily be a given single epoch before the description of "the evening and the morning" part after the universe was put into its place. It is better to concentrate on the life and teachings of Jesus than attempting to explain the motivations and works of the sort of intelligence that is capable of creating matter out of nothingness.

 

[hedrick]

I doubt that most people change basic commitments such as religion based on arguments. If someone is attracted to Christians but has intellectual reservations, showing them that something make sense can be helpful. But it’s not likely to get someone interested in Christianity in the first place.

I think the main thing you can do to interest someone in Christianity is live a Christ-like life. My impression is that people who convert typically do so because they know Christians who seem to have something they don’t.

Trying to convince someone that Genesis is literally accurate history is not likely to be a helpful thing to do. Many Christians don’t think it is. What matter is whether he wants to follow Christ, not whether he can believe Genesis 1 literally. So you may actually be creating a stumbling block for him. And it’s not likely to be what he needs anyway.

 

[hedrick]

But many of us do take Genesis literally and if Robert is one of us then it is fine for him to defend his position.

Of course it is. I would never say otherwise. Many fine Christians are creationists. My concern was that he might be giving his brother the impression that you have to be creationist to be Christian. This could create an unnecessary stumbling block.

 

[Tempura]

Many have said well.

Love your brother, and lead a christian life. Set an example for him, and when he is in need, do not abandon him (although you, I or nobody else suggested that you would). Our faith doesn't come by arguments. Pray for him, and do not despair.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Scripture states that the universe was created in 7 days. If you do not believe that you make God and Christ liars.

Well. At least we know that Barnabas isn't one of your heroes of the Faith.

 

[terryjohn]

Send him Alice Coopers testimony.

 

[orangeness365]

Well, the fact is that today he tried to tease me asking me why I stopped trying to take him to the right path to Our much Beloved God and I told him the same thing and he gave me these quotesProverbs 16:4) The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. And (Matthew 15:24) I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
What shall I do?

Didn't Jesus send out the disciples to go and make believers of all nations?
Matthew 28:19
My guess is what Jesus was saying that he himself during his time on earth would go to the lost sheep of Israel, which he did, but he also went to other places, like to the woman in Samaria?